New art exhibit trots in with bridled precision

Sweet Home artist Colleen Wiley stands with a selection of her pen and ink drawings now on display at City Hall. Photos by Sarah Brown

A rotation of fresh art is now being exhibited at City Hall, providing viewers a glimpse into the heart of a woman whose affinity for horses is evident in her detailed work.

The Sweet Home artist, Colleen Wiley, was raised mostly in Oregon and, like many young girls, took an interest in horses early on. She recalled a Shetland pony named Jackpot at her grandmother’s house where she lived when she was around 10.

“You couldn’t get near him, but I would go out there every day after school and take him toast with strawberry jelly,” she said. “He ended up being my best friend, and if I didn’t come to see him, he’d break out and go to my house.”

Wiley has kept horses of her own since she was in her 20s and currently has two on her five acres of property. Castiel – named after an angel from the television show “Supernatural” – is her “dream horse,” a large black and white Friesian. The other, Bob, is a quarter horse.

Now she shares with the community samples of her pen and ink art composed of tiny dots and lines using fine point pens (.05 mm to .1 mm) and, sometimes, watercolor. Often in her work can be found Native American and yin-yang symbolism, or perhaps some fantasy.

Not surprisingly, her favorite subject matter is horses, but she’s also drawn other creatures, such as domestic and large cat species, foxes, wolves, unicorns, whales and “merquus” – a fantastical equine mermaid of her own creation.

Wiley said she was 4 years old when she fell in love with horses. That’s also when she drew her first horse.

“It was basically a rectangle.”

At age 8, she started dabbling more seriously in art while her mother was earning a master’s degree in the field.

“I did whatever I could find, especially just drawing animals,” Wiley said of the kind of art she tried.

Although mostly self-taught through “practice and love,” her art has come a long way from rectangular shapes of equines. Often taking inspiration from photographs, she starts with a pencil sketch before filling in the details of shadows and shapes with a pen. It can take “hours and weeks” to complete a drawing project.

“People don’t realize how difficult it is,” she noted.

But Wiley finds that working on an art form that requires such detail and precision is something of a meditative process for her.

“It definitely takes a lot of focus.”

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